"BTW, I don't think there's anything particularly mindless about the middle as long as you're not afraid to take a stand."

Yeah, I specified mindless centrism to differentiate it from...let's call it principled centrism. People who are too fond of the "fine people on both sides" way of thinking don't take a stand. Which is the problem.

I'm a firm believer in trying to understand people who I disagree with, I just can't stand the people who treat issues that are actually important as philosophical thought exercises. It's why I'd rather somebody took a stance I disagreed with and explained why they felt that way, than the pasty bothsidesism that some centrists are guilty of.